The thread got deleted just as it got really interesting. The last post was from some obviously emotional individual that had joined wakeworld minutes prior to his post (I'm pretty sure it was one of the fine gentlemen in the video with Mr. Harris). He was quite upset and calling out everyone that had made a negative comment about the vid. Giving reasons like "you don't know what we've been through". I literally almost fell out of my chair in laughter. Just as I was about to reply with some smart*** comment, the thread was removed....

That was one of the most entertaining threads we've had here. What a shame....

So it was one of the "wanna be gangsters" who forced the thread down? Interesting........

You know you're gangsta when a wakeboard forum can force you to hide your rap video on the Internet.

I gotta say I was always one of the biggest fans of the Vandall but as others mentioned, his super negative interviews and this video changed my views of the guy. He can charge a wake like no other, it will be interesting to see if he films any video parts this year or if he sticks to the rap career.

The video was bad enough but then put up stillshots of him holding a gun up towards his head is a not needed and has no real place on WW.
And Im sure it didnt matter what pro it was it would still have gotten nuked!!!

The video was bad enough but then put up stillshots of him holding a gun up towards his head is a not needed and has no real place on WW.
And Im sure it didnt matter what pro it was it would still have gotten nuked!!!

that was just a screenshot from HIS stupid video. That HE posted on youtube. Youtube, not his own personal friends and family picture sharing site.

It absolutely belongs on wakeworld unless wakeworld is just a place for us to pat these guys on the back. I'd just got teamtalk if I wanted that.

It's Dave's site to do what he wants with. It was a stupid video of what I now am to believe are stupid people, acting stupid. The young people who are either active members or just lurkers in this site don't need to see it on here.
I applaud Dave for taking it down. If you disagree with him, send him an email, or just go to the other wake boarding forums.

He is a pro wakeboarder many people look up to and even idolize, and has been in the industry for like 20 years. This site is about discussing Wakeboarding, wakeboarders, boats and wakeboarding in general. If a video of a pro rider and ambasdor of the sport is embarassing and the pro put it online for the world to see, it's HIS fault, no someone elses, and hiding it from the public doesn't do anyone favours.

Remember when a few of the Canadain guys made that video at the cable all dressed up as gangstas with guns? It wasn't banned or removed because it was a joke and everyone knew it. What's the difference? These Cali guys are no joke, they are the real deal. True West Side gangsters. I guess WW and the rest of the internet wasn't ready for the realness.

It's Dave's site to do what he wants with. It was a stupid video of what I now am to believe are stupid people, acting stupid. The young people who are either active members or just lurkers in this site don't need to see it on here.
I applaud Dave for taking it down. If you disagree with him, send him an email, or just go to the other wake boarding forums.

I agree he is free to delete it if he wants, but to say that the young people dont need to see it on here is an ignorant statement. Kids will find it on youtube or anywhere on the internet if they want, however when they saw it on here they would have seen all of the posts pointing out how bad the video and it's content was and not glorifying it. Plus it was an entertaining thread!

Yeah, but it's prob a good thing for Dave and the rest of ww to not have that garbage on his site. Kids are going to find this kinda crap in other venues, but it's nice to see that ww has some sort of decency. Especially when it comes to some of the athletes it has covered in the past.
IMO of course.

This is a privately owned business/website. Dave has the right to delete what he will, it's his site. While I respect that, I don't always agree with it. This site, however, is run very cleanly and lots of the trolls and internet BS is kept off it, and I salute Dave for that.

As for the Vandall. Hope he didn't relapse but he's a character... hope we see some sick riding from him soon and not anymore of that nonsense...

FYI... Dave isn't the only mod here. In fact there are at least half a dozen mods if not more, so all you people hating on Dave I suggest you relax on him a bit. You guys forget that there is a very large common sponsor with a lot on the line here. With a reckless athlete doing things like this video under your wing you have to make things disappear to save some face. I can only hope that said sponsor was smart enough to set a clause in the contract to save themselves from certain events like this.

Theres a saying ,there is no such thing as bad publicity. Randall has basically fallen off the radar. He lost his company, has no wakeboard sponsor(unless we count mutiny who has done basically nada) hasn't had an edit or photo in a good long while, at least since last summer or early fall. He looks like a douchenozzle here but we're talking about him which is probably part of the point...

And guess what. It's working, wakeboardings BAMF'er is back on our brains...

The video on which the thread was based was no longer available, not to mention the fact that it was peppered rather generously with obscenities, so I deleted the thread. Easy on the conspiracy theories.

I agree he is free to delete it if he wants, but to say that the young people dont need to see it on here is an ignorant statement. Kids will find it on youtube or anywhere on the internet if they want, however when they saw it on here they would have seen all of the posts pointing out how bad the video and it's content was and not glorifying it. Plus it was an entertaining thread!

The video on which the thread was based was no longer available, not to mention the fact that it was peppered rather generously with obscenities, so I deleted the thread. Easy on the conspiracy theories.

No sponsor has such a clause. Nor would I allow them to sign a contract with such a clause.

Are you his agent too, or are you speaking to an advertiser on the site?

(not trying to be obtuse, just not sure if you are speaking of RH signing a contract which would allow the sponsor to break said contract based on silly video of sponsored rider with ski mask and gun to the head, or if you are saying that you wouldn't let an advertiser sign a contract allowing the advertiser to demand certain content be deleted?)

Nothing but respect for this guy when he is 85ft+ behind the boat, but hanging out with him is brutal. He'll wear jeans, board shorts, boxers; beater, button-down, sweatshirt; bandana, hat, hood up in 100F weather--seriously. The whole time you just scratch your head at about every word that comes out of his mouth too. If you met him for 5 minutes you would think he was a live parody show, a few hours later you realize that it is no act...

He is an example of a guy who's image overshadows his talent. Think about how hard that is to pull off when you can boost wrapped heel 9s 30ft into the flats.

Nothing but respect for this guy when he is 85ft+ behind the boat, but hanging out with him is brutal. He'll wear jeans, board shorts, boxers; beater, button-down, sweatshirt; bandana, hat, hood up in 100F weather--seriously. The whole time you just scratch your head at about every word that comes out of his mouth too. If you met him for 5 minutes you would think he was a live parody show, a few hours later you realize that it is no act...

He is an example of a guy who's image overshadows his talent. Think about how hard that is to pull off when you can boost wrapped heel 9s 30ft into the flats.

so, what you are saying is that he is like a white-trash version of an NFL athlete. makes sense.

Nothing but respect for this guy when he is 85ft+ behind the boat, but hanging out with him is brutal. He'll wear jeans, board shorts, boxers; beater, button-down, sweatshirt; bandana, hat, hood up in 100F weather--seriously. The whole time you just scratch your head at about every word that comes out of his mouth too. If you met him for 5 minutes you would think he was a live parody show, a few hours later you realize that it is no act...

He is an example of a guy who's image overshadows his talent. Think about how hard that is to pull off when you can boost wrapped heel 9s 30ft into the flats.

I am totally grateful for Arnette and Alliance hooking that up. I have always had the highest respect for Mr. Scott Byerly and it is always a great time when he relaxes and drops a little wisdom. I also believe that Randall's section in Natural Born Thrillaz was earth shattering. To watch him in person is insane. He doesn't even use normal equipment. He rides a board as tall as he is with 3 1inch fins on each end.

Opinions are like a$$holes. Everyone on this threads got one. I've know Randall for over a decade and he's a stand up guy. Misunderstood at times yes but a great human being and good friend. Y'all need to back the F up!

I cant speak to Randall on a personal level, only on what I see. What I saw was a pathetic "rap video" in which he is wearing a ski mask and flashing a gun. People dont do that unless they plan to rob someone or shoot someone, or as probable in his case just glorify that behavior. You can't get a more prime example of the worst of society than that. Plus the song sucked balls. So when people point that out you want us to back the F up?! You can make excuses for bad behavior and a video that looks like Jamie Kennedy made it simply because you know him, but dont get bent when we wont.

Are you his agent too, or are you speaking to an advertiser on the site?

(not trying to be obtuse, just not sure if you are speaking of RH signing a contract which would allow the sponsor to break said contract based on silly video of sponsored rider with ski mask and gun to the head, or if you are saying that you wouldn't let an advertiser sign a contract allowing the advertiser to demand certain content be deleted?)

It's Dave's site to do what he wants with. It was a stupid video of what I now am to believe are stupid people, acting stupid. The young people who are either active members or just lurkers in this site don't need to see it on here.
I applaud Dave for taking it down. If you disagree with him, send him an email, or just go to the other wake boarding forums.

You "applaud" it? If you knew Randy Harris's history you might not be so quick to dismiss it as stupid people acting stupid. Did you see it? I can't tell if you did or did not.

ok. well....

You know what, it's Dave's site yes, his web address and internet domain, but it a discussion forum, and this idea that it's "his site" with all this language indicating the discussion here is like a personal possession of his is just not something I agree with whatsoever. He doesn't own my contributions to the forum, and he doesn't own that of anyone else. You don't delete something unless it's actually offensive or NSFW. Super cruddy move, one that makes me question spending time here anymore. So if it was Dave or another mod, rotten move. I know Randy Harris is kind of a darling to this site but it should have remained open. It makes me sad to say this but in this day & age we can just take this all to Facebook just as easily now. Now I just wish it had been posted there instead, because someone would have mirrored the video it and the discussion would at least still be open. Keep doing crap like this and there really won't be a user base here to care to even contribute.

And yes, to the person who mentioned it was on YouTube and not embedded on some personal site or fan page makes me think that the people behind it went "hey let's put this up, it's awesome"... immediately followed by "RETREAT! RETREAT! RETREAT!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by solo

Opinions are like a$$holes. Everyone on this threads got one. I've know Randall for over a decade and he's a stand up guy. Misunderstood at times yes but a great human being and good friend. Y'all need to back the F up!

Back the f* up nothin'.

How about y'all tell Harris to come explain some stuff to his fans, many of whom (me among them) feels embarrassed to have been a supporter. This was a breaking point for many people.

I'm sorry to hear that we disagree on the definition of "offensive or NSFW." I thought the video fit into both categories. I like to keep WakeWorld as chill as possible so that younger riders can come on here and their parents don't have to worry about them being exposed to a bunch of crap. That's why we have a no profanity rule. It sounds like you'd run a discussion board differently if you had one and that's great.

After doing this for about 15 years, I happen to think the amount of moderation we do strikes a pretty happy medium between being overly restrictive and having a discussion board that's completely out of control. Obviously, it's nothing new for somebody to come on here and call our moderation "sucky" and to have all the answers on how to run a successful discussion board since we get that every few weeks or so. And I can't really blame you because it probably looks like a pretty easy job when you've never done it before, but I point to the success of these discussion boards as a pretty good reason to continue as we have...but thanks for the advice.

I did run message boards, for years, and I took near constant beatings for it. So I learned what to tolerate and what not to. My decisions got questioned all the time which is why it's hard for me to even bother you like this but seriously. This isn't a kiddie site, there is boat bun, there is all sorts of political f**ing nonsense in the non wake - but this that thread flamed out - just lock it then!

Why didn't you just delete the post that had the YouTube video in it? It was, after all, on YouTube. Plan ol' vanilla YouTube. Access from anywhere on any device YouTube. Non age-gated too.

Which leads me to this question: Do you have stricter content policies than YouTube?

Juniorhawk.....didnt you run the2001.com site?
I could see the video and stills being yanked.
I just wish I couldve seen all the ppl trying to defend RH's actions in the video. I also wonder if it was new or old.....becuase I know he used to rap before he got sober.

while I never should have called those guys stupid, (I apologize) I stand by the statement that their actions in and words in the video were definitely stupid. I have known about "Randy" since he was a clean cut little kid in Huntington Beach, whose parents used to pay Darin Shapiro to come train him at Canyon Lake. I have seen him in his best times, and thankfully, never personally witnessed him at his worst. although, based on who he was hanging out and idolizing as a grom, you could see he was going to be in trouble if he did not mellow out a bit. he did not.
either way, I stand by Daves decision to delete this garbage from WW. its nice to be able to hang out on forums and not have to be inundated with profanity at every turn. I swear as much as the next guy, but I like to think that when I am around those who are most impressionable (my kids), I keep my swear words to myself.

sorry, not really sure where this is going. but yes, I still aplaud daves decision. good for him on trying to keep the vulgarity out of WW.

heres english for you.. you guys sit on your computer and hate on others all day.. get a life and if you have an issue with somebody don't hide behind your computer

Hey, we are all on a"discussion board". That's a place you go to while on your computer and discuss things. This one happens to be about wakeboarding and wakeboarders mostly. So aren't we supposed to be doing just that?!

I'm good with the video being gone, but all the half-nude pictures on here already make it an unsafe place for kids. I appreciate the effort to keep it clean and realize it's hard to be consistent, but let's not pretend this site is a good or wholesome place for kids to browse. That being said...I love this site and have been on here for 13 years. Dave and the crew must be doing something right.

On topic...that video was disappointing to say the least. I don't know how long ago it was filmed, but having seen RH attend a local Wakeboard Church event and share his testimony, it's sad to see where he is today. I pray that he hasn't fallen away but it's hard to not want to draw conclusions from that video.

What do you say we look at things in a little different perspective. We all have the immediate instinct to judge someone when we see something we don't like, or approve of right? How many of us judgmental individuals are in the entertainment industry, and understand how it works? My guess is very few, if any at all.
Now, lets take the TV show, "Sons Of Anarchy" for example. Really heavy show. Right? Lots of bad language, sex, and violence. "Jax Teller", is the main character along with others who deal guns, kill people, blackmail individuals, make porn, racketeer etc. These guys are as nasty as they come, yet America loves them right? Why? Because its just a television show, and what they do on the show, isn't real life.! In real life, these guys are actors, parents, sporting enthusiasts, etc. They grocery shop, go to the park, take their kids to school, hug their mom and dad, and work in their garden, just like you and I. When Jax Teller is at home, he's not Jax Teller. He's Charlie Hunnam. He goes to work in the entertainment industry, and becomes Jax Teller, The Biker.!
Now picture Charlie Hunnam as an actor in a show that you didn't like. Say he played a slime ball rapist or child molester, and the show was not your cup of tea. You probably wouldn't be a fan of that show right? You would say, "this is crap, that guy sucks" etc.!
Now lets move on to the topic of Randall Harris. Randall Harris is a talented individual. He's a successful athlete who has gained popularity among a particular genre of people, wakeboarders. When held accountable to his wakeboarding, he is nothing but spectacular in your eyes. He is extremely entertaining to watch and he leaves you in awe when he is done doing what he does on the water. As an entertainer, Randall has other enthusiasms as well. He's not only an athlete, but a musician. Now the music entertainment industry is completely different than the wakeboarding entertainment industry. In the music industry, like television and movies, you play a character and play a role. You create a fictional individual and make the public believe that its real. Its entertainment to those who enjoy it, and to those who don't, they have the option of changing the channel and watching something else which suits their particular desires.
Randall didn't make a rap video, so wakeboarders could enjoy it. He made it ,to entertain individuals who enjoy that style of entertainment. People who like Rap.!
To get to the point, when you are musical entertainer, your time on stage, and in videos, is a portrayal of a fictional character you have created for entertainment purposes. Another solid example would be Ozzy Osbourne. He would apparently bite the heads off of birds, and kill puppies on stage but he's actually just a family man. If you don't like what Randall does with his musical entertainment, you don't have to, but if you make the ignorant mistake of co mingling his real person character, with his fictional one, it only makes you seem like someone who cant decipher the difference.El Viejo Van Cleef signing off.

What do you say we look at things in a little different perspective. We all have the immediate instinct to judge someone when we see something we don't like, or approve of right? How many of us judgmental individuals are in the entertainment industry, and understand how it works? My guess is very few, if any at all.
Now, lets take the TV show, "Sons Of Anarchy" for example. Really heavy show. Right? Lots of bad language, sex, and violence. "Jax Teller", is the main character along with others who deal guns, kill people, blackmail individuals, make porn, racketeer etc. These guys are as nasty as they come, yet America loves them right? Why? Because its just a television show, and what they do on the show, isn't real life.! In real life, these guys are actors, parents, sporting enthusiasts, etc. They grocery shop, go to the park, take their kids to school, hug their mom and dad, and work in their garden, just like you and I. When Jax Teller is at home, he's not Jax Teller. He's Charlie Hunnam. He goes to work in the entertainment industry, and becomes Jax Teller, The Biker.!
Now picture Charlie Hunnam as an actor in a show that you didn't like. Say he played a slime ball rapist or child molester, and the show was not your cup of tea. You probably wouldn't be a fan of that show right? You would say, "this is crap, that guy sucks" etc.!
Now lets move on to the topic of Randall Harris. Randall Harris is a talented individual. He's a successful athlete who has gained popularity among a particular genre of people, wakeboarders. When held accountable to his wakeboarding, he is nothing but spectacular in your eyes. He is extremely entertaining to watch and he leaves you in awe when he is done doing what he does on the water. As an entertainer, Randall has other enthusiasms as well. He's not only an athlete, but a musician. Now the music entertainment industry is completely different than the wakeboarding entertainment industry. In the music industry, like television and movies, you play a character and play a role. You create a fictional individual and make the public believe that its real. Its entertainment to those who enjoy it, and to those who don't, they have the option of changing the channel and watching something else which suits their particular desires.
Randall didn't make a rap video, so wakeboarders could enjoy it. He made it ,to entertain individuals who enjoy that style of entertainment. People who like Rap.!
To get to the point, when you are musical entertainer, your time on stage, and in videos, is a portrayal of a fictional character you have created for entertainment purposes. Another solid example would be Ozzy Osbourne. He would apparently bite the heads off of birds, and kill puppies on stage but he's actually just a family man. If you don't like what Randall does with his musical entertainment, you don't have to, but if you make the ignorant mistake of co mingling his real person character, with his fictional one, it only makes you seem like someone who cant decipher the difference.El Viejo Van Cleef signing off.

Does the Vandal have an english accent in real life like that sons of anarchy guy? Dang man I am glad you posted this because I've totally fallen for his gangstar persona, you are right.

Reef stated 'You create a fictional individual and make the public believe that its real'
-Really Bro? Come on...thats the route you're going with it? We are just musically challenged dults that dont understand the musical genius behind this dude? Ok......